The invention relates generally to welding power supplies and, more particularly, to hydraulically driven welding power supplies configured for use by dual operators.
Welding is a process that has become increasingly ubiquitous in various industries and applications. For example, welding processes are employed in construction, manufacturing, shipbuilding, and so forth. For further example, pipe welding processes may be performed to join two pieces of pipe into one larger unit or to repair existing pipes that may have degraded over time. Since the pipes being welding in such processes often have long lengths, multiple welders are often needed to perform a desired weld along a single pipe length. Additionally, since the diameters of such pipes may also be large, it is often desirable to perform multiple welding operations at different spots along the length and around the circumference of the pipes. Unfortunately, many traditional welding systems only support a single welding operation at one time and, accordingly, multiple welders are needed to weld a single pipe. Additionally, such welders often operate by drawing substantial amounts of power from a primary electrical power source, thereby decreasing the system efficiency. Accordingly, there exists a need for improved welding systems that overcome such drawbacks.